Mt Rainier: First Night

The very next weekend after coming home from UT, we were headed for Mt Rainier for our next camping adventure of the summer. I have a TON of photos from this one but I'll break it up into more reasonable size chunks than I did with Arches. : )

Mt Rainier couldn't possibly be more the opposite of our experience in Arches the week prior. 

It was chilly and very wet! Somehow we still had a great time.

As usual, we got a later start than we'd hoped for and ended up arriving at the park close to dinner time. Before setting up camp, we decided to check out Christine Falls.

Nearby is a trail which takes you a little further back and gives you a totally different view of the falls. It was a quick easy hike & totally worth the effort.

Benno likes to periodically plant himself along the trail and request his photo be taken.

Beautiful bridge...I wasn't nervous about George carrying Zac up on his shoulders there until I climbed up on the bridge myself and saw the treacherous canyon & wild river below...

This water was raging. And it had cut a pretty angry groove into the rock.

Just look at those rocks! Don't they look like something out of a movie set for a sci-fi or fantasy film?

Zac checks out the water running underneath a much smaller, less frightening bridge.

 After our hike, we found our campsite at Cougar Rock & set up.

I love seeing our little tent amongst so many varied backgrounds...we still had some red sand inside from the Arches trip.

And here is our new canopy, which was such a blessing during this rainy campout!!!

Tidbits

7-11-11...Slurpee Day at 7-11! We rode our bikes to 7-11 and partook in free Slurpees.

It was on our way to get our free Slurpees that Aaron slid off his bike while racing around the cul-de-sac and skinned his chin...the very next day, Benno managed to skin his chin as well! 

Had to take a photo of the matching band-aids:

Utah, part 4: Farewell

Have you missed me? Wow, I wasn't expecting August to be so busy, but it was...and then we got ants in the house, aaaaaahhhhhh!!!! Exterminator came today--let's pray he rid us of those busy little beasts forever.

So when I last left you, I was still blogging about our Utah trip, which is now 2 months ago, crazy!

One of our most favorite things about visiting the family in Utah is the delicious dinners out in the backyard. Because of our busy week there, we hadn't been able to eat out back...so on our last night there we were determined to do it despite the weather's best attempts to spoil our plan.

Rain clouds popped up and kept sprinkling just enough to keep us guessing whether it might soon stop--George is pointing out the direction of the clouds:

See Anthony hiding under the table? Trying to avoid those rain drops.

Cute Nora.

The rain showers were not letting up as we'd hoped they would so finally it occurred to someone to go get the wonderful canopy that shaded us in Arches. While Jenny & George came back with the canopy, look what showed up to bless our dinner!

How I love rainbows! And hooray for the canopy again!

Only thing better than a rainbow is a double rainbow! : )

Dinner was fantastic as always. Yummy food, beloved company, and gorgeous summer-y backdrop. Love.

Later on, George's aunt, uncle, grandmother & cousin were able to drop by for a quick visit. So glad we got to see them for a bit! Cousin Matt & the boys:

Matt & Stelios

Vovo & Cecilia

Vovo held up her hand in front of George's face, I don't remember why, but it was pretty funny...we were all laughing.

Vovo & 4 of her grandsons

Then it was the girls' turn--I think Jenny & I have had better pictures than this but I do like this one because of a very silly, grumpy Stelios in the background. (He wasn't really grumpy...he's a serial photo-crasher.)

Vovo & some of her great-grandsons

This is out of order...but the 2 babies were hanging out being cute.

Another thing I love about Utah in the summer is the little Snoasis Shack...I made a last-minute run for one last creamy shave-ice treat. Mmmmmm!!!!

Zachary has always loved Vovo's walker. He especially loves the balls on the bottom.

While I made my Snoasis run, I missed Benno & Nora's "wedding". I guess each of them dressed up on their own & then got the boys to help them get married, ha! I'm sad I missed out on that bit of cuteness. Nora is adorable totally worn out on the ottoman.

Sweet girl in her wedding dress. : )

And that's the end of our Utah trip.

Utah, part 3: Donut Falls (almost)

On our last day in UT, we tried out a new hike to Donut Falls, which looked quite promising from sites like this.

Cousins

We got as far as this point and the trail came to an abrupt halt. There had been so much snowfall late into the spring that the river was much stronger than usual...and there was no way to go further. Boo! We were so looking forward to the falls...such a disappointment, as pretty as this river is.

Turning back--even here the trail is under water.

We gave it one more shot, following some smaller trails that went up the mountainside in the direction of the falls, but no luck there either.

Jenny & Evie & Terry in the back

Having failed to find the elusive Donut Falls, we opted for the scenic route home through Cottonwood Canyon. It was a beautiful day!

Foiled AGAIN! The mountain pass was CLOSED. Darn that springtime snow! 

So we turned around and went back to T & J's house. Still, it was a beautiful day!

Utah, part 2: water

I posted about that thunderstorm that hit the night before we left for Arches--here's a little more about that storm.

The rain that fell from that storm was pretty phenomenal. 

Look at these two photos for a visual illustration:

Do you notice anything missing between the 2 photos (besides our red van)?

Did you notice the MOUNTAIN???

That mountain is right there--even this photo makes it feel a little further away than it really is. It was incredible to see that mountain DISAPPEAR in that heavy curtain of rain. Do you see how the street is being flooded in that first photo? That was intense rain. 

And I loved it, from the safety of the warm, dry house. : )

After our Arches trip, we spent one perfect day at the Lindon City pool. I love that place & so wish we had one like it here, but it'd only be open 1-2 months of the year so I suppose that's not a very profitable business venture. It has a zero entry pool with fountains and slides for itty-bitty kids...a lazy river...a hot tub...a couple bigger slides for bigger kids...lap pool...and one of those surfing pool things (I forget its official name)...all for a very affordable price--perfect for a family like ours.

Cute little Evie:

Zachary & Evie...notice I really only have photos of the babies. All the other kids scattered to the four corners of the pool and I hardly saw them for the 3 hours we were there (and George was here and there with them too.)

Oh I did get this one shot of Anthony floating past in the lazy river....